“the wise and foolish virgins giggle with their bodies glowing bright”

[larryhammer]

Please rec me some Enid Blynton.

I’ve greatly enjoyed any number of school stories by Angela Brazil as well as three dozen of Brent-Dyer’s Chalet School series, and am digging with delight into the first couple volumes of Oxenham’s Abbey Girls series—all of which I found both better written and more engaging than the first Mallory Towers book, which I DNF’d halfway through. What other Blynton should I try? Or should I look elsewhere to scratch that (boarding) school story itch?

(Yes, there’s Stalky & Co., but that scratches a different itch, much the same one as Kim, plus is only one book. Yes, there’s also the Crater School series, which is quite enjoyable and which may also do in a pinch, but it’s not quite the same.)

---L.

Subject quote from The Carpet Crawlers, Genesis.

Comments

[conuly]

Enid Blyton was, according to one of her two daughters, a terrible mother. (From that daughter's description and some seriously eyebrow raising things in some of her books, I think this is absolutely the case. Very "missing missing reasons" / "raised by narcissists" vibes.)

And it leaks out into the writing, honestly. (Also, her books are kinda pabulum.)

Have you read the Antonia Forest books? They're not all set in a boarding school, some are set in between terms, but you can just read the ones set during term-time. The earlier ones are better - that woman would've done better to stick to her original timeline rather than try to write in the floating present.

[larryhammer]

Only the first, Autumn Term -- been meaning to track down more for a while.

[moon_custafer]

Looking back, I think virtually every vintage British kids’ book I read in which the characters attended boarding school took place during the holidays, when it was much easier for them to investigate mysteries or go camping. The only exception I can think of is Charlotte Sometimes (Penelope Farmer), which is a time-slip story with a boarding-school setting.

[nineveh_uk]

If you DNF'ed halfway through the first Mallory Towers book, Blyton is not for you. I suspect they czn only work when first read in childhood. That said, there is a recent TV series that has been very well reviewed. It would probably have Blyton turning in her grave.

I second the recs for Charlotte, Sometimes and Forest. Have you come across Dorita Fairlie Bruce? Her Dimsie books are 1921-1941 boarding school stories https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorita_Fairlie_Bruce

The classic boys school stories were Jennings, which I've never read https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennings_(novel_series) PG Wodehouse also had 'Mike', which is fun. David Blaize by EF Benson is well-written and, highly unusually for something written in 1916 in the genre, actually acknowledges the homoeroticism (and sexual abuse) of boarding schools.

From the teachers' POV, To Serve Them All My Days, by RF Delderfield.

[larryhammer]

Charlotte Sometimes sounds like my jam. I'll look for it.

[larryhammer]

Bruce gets mentioned as a peer of Brent-Dyer and Oxenham, but I've not tracked down anything of hers yet. Doesn't look like she's easy to scare up these days, alas.

I've read the Mike stories of course, and the Delderfield, but never heard of the Benson -- nor have I previously explored anything of his outside the Mapp and Lucia books.

Thanks!

[sartorias]

I'm afraid they don't get any better than Mallory Towers. If you haven't read Anonia Fraser, I suggest you try Autumn Term, which is so very good--everything that Blyton sadly was unable to do. Or, if you want the early stuff, track down L.T. Meade. She wrote during the Victorian era, when girls schools were kind of being invented, as opposed to schools of manners or finishing schools. She did have some um, regrettable favorite tropes (like the beautiful but "untamed" Irish girl) but still, they are quite interesting.

There are also the boys' school stories, the very best of which were written by P.G. Wodehouse. There are some others still readable.

[larryhammer]

Any suggestions of where to start with the prolific Meade?

Autumn Term is indeed very good.

[de_eekhoorn]

If American-set girls' outdoors/school stories are also acceptable, I quite recommend Hildegard G. Frey's Campfire Girls series. It's on Gutenberg. The second book is set during the school year, and while it is far from perfect, the series does avoid a good number of the more frustrating tropes and assumptions in girls' books of the period.

[larryhammer]

That's a definite possibility -- I'll try the first two. Thanks!

[moon_custafer]

Oh-- if you don't mind relatively modern boarding-school stories, Gordon Korman's "Bruno and Boots" series dates from the 1980s (I think he might even still be writing them, he was in his teens when he wrote the first one). The title characters are best friends, instigators of shenanigans, and roommates at “MacDonald Hall,” a fictional Canadian boys’ school.

[sartorias]

Alas I read Meade decades ago, before I began noting my reads on Goodreads...I suggest just poking around. Or looking at reviews of them and see which ones pique your interest.

[shewhomust]

I love the way you ask Dreamwidth to rec. some Blyton, and Dreamwidth replies in unison "Shan't! Won't!"

Another vote for Antonia Forrest, and for Charlotte Sometimes even though it's a different thing.

For the sake of completeness, I take it you are up to speed on the Crater School?

[larryhammer]

I've no idea how well modern stories will hit me. I'll look out for those. Canadian setting is probably a bonus, here.

[larryhammer]

😁😁

I don't think I'm completely caught up on the Crater School books, but I've read a couple, yes.

[conuly]

He's not, though he has written a lot of school stories set in non-boarding schools since then, most notably the Swindle series.

[leecetheartist]

I read a lot of Enid Blyton stories as a child but for some reason completely missed out on Mallory Towers. You might like to read The Naughtiest Girl In The School and its sequels. (it was written in the 40's so bear that in mind, as I'm sure you will) and if you enjoyed the characters perhaps try the ones that were written much later by the Trebizon writer.

You may possibly enjoy Trebizon too, I haven't read it though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trebizon

[larryhammer]

I'll check both of those out.

And, huh!, the Trebizon books are available as ebooks and used at a reasonable price in the States, thanks to a reprint last decade.

[larryhammer]

Aaand the first Trebizon books went down in two gulps -- scratched that itch perfectly. Thanks!

[leecetheartist]

Fantastic! Great to hear!